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Guthrie - Players to blame

Danny Guthrie feels the Newcastle players must shoulder the responsibility for the club's poor season.

By Chris Burton

Last Updated: 27/03/09 2:58pm

Danny Guthrie feels the Newcastle players must shoulder the responsibility for the club's poor season.

It has been another eventful year on Tyneside, with goings on off the field often distracting from events on it.

Stories such as Kevin Keegan's shock departure, owner Mike Ashley announcing plans to sell the club and Joe Kinnear undergoing heart surgery have all distracted from the task of picking up points.

As a result, the Magpies currently find themselves inside the Premier League's bottom three, with two points separating them from safety.

Guthrie acknowledges that the situation is getting desperate, but insists the club's fate rests solely in the hands of the players.

He said: "It's the players who go out there on a match day, whatever anyone says.

"For me, what was going on behind the scenes didn't affect me. We went out there as fit and as well prepared as if nothing had happened, so I think it is up to the players to take responsibility for results on the pitch.

Capable

"There are eight games left and a lot of points to play for - but it doesn't look good when you look at the table, and we have got a lot of hard games as well.

"But we are more than capable of getting ourselves out of it - and it's about time we get out there and do it.

"No-one's heads have gone down. It hurts when you lose games, and the hardest thing to do is to pick yourselves up, but that's what we have got to do and get ready for the Chelsea game (a week on Saturday).

"We have got a lot of experienced players in the dressing room, which helps. You can turn to them and they have been there, seen it and done it."

Meanwhile, Newcastle have announced that Peter Beardsley has returned to a coaching post within the club's academy.

The former Magpies favourite had been working in an ambassadorial role at St James' Park.